On the Corner: Berkeley’s Convenience Store Owners

Ashby Super Market, on the corner of Ashby and MLK in Berkeley. All photos: Christina Diaz

The corner store is a vital indicator of the economic, racial, and cultural makeup of any community. What people buy — whether it’s Coke or coconut water, deli meat or goat cheese, Hostess cakes or gluten-free baked goods, cheap hard liquor or expensive artisan brews — offers insight into the kinds of customers that frequent a business and their purchasing power.

For many people, the corner grocer remains their main — or only — source of sustenance. And, perhaps, equally importantly, a gathering place in a given neighborhood.

Some corner stores unapologetically flaunt booze and fast food, others offer ethnic staples or specialty foods, still others a combo of both. The products on the shelves — eclectic and quirky as they sometimes are (incense and pantyhose alongside a sea of cigarettes and processed salty or sugary food-like substances wrapped in fluorescent-colored packaging) provide clues to the character of the surrounding community.

The owners and managers who work behind the counters have their own tales to tell. Corner stores in cities around the country are traditionally run by immigrants and Berkeley is no exception. Of the five stores profiled below, all located on or close to Ashby Avenue, four owners have roots in Yemen, one is a first-generation American whose father was also a storekeeper.

Many corner store owners come in search of a better life for their families with hopes for a brighter future. English is often not their first language, some deal with crime and violence in or near their stores, and they’re not immune to hardship or hard work. Some become integral to their communities, others prefer to toil in relative anonymity.

In the first of an occasional series on Berkeley’s corner stores, we set out to get a taste of the flavor of five such grocers in South Berkeley.

Ashby Marketplace

Ramiz Hasan stands next to his extensive gluten-free section at Ashby Marketplace.

Challenges: “Everything is so expensive. There’s not too much profit in the business anymore.”

Family matters: “I don’t want this life for my children. It’s fine for me to keep going here but I want my children to have opportunities and a better life. When you run a corner store you have to keep your eye on everything. No corner store for my children.”

McGee’s Market

Eli Amhadi of McGee's Market lives across the street from the store he owns.

J&B Fine Foods Market

Manager: Faiz Kaid, 40, Kassim’s brother, who has lived here 11 years. Kaid, who has seven children, lives above the store, as does Kassim, who has four children.

Hometown: Yemen. “When we first came here we were afraid for our children. We’d heard stories about kidnappings. But my children can walk to school here and I know people in the neighborhood look out for them.”

Customer loyalty, part one: “One day a long time ago now, some guy came in and snatched a bunch of stuff and ran out of the store. My brother and I chased after him like a couple of crazies all the way down to San Pablo Avenue. We left the store wide open. When we came back, we found a regular customer who had closed the doors and wouldn’t let anyone in. She had seen what happened and was standing watch until we got back.”

Customer loyalty, part two: “Sometimes our customers are short a few cents and that’s okay. They always bring us the money next time. It’s not like they’re going anywhere.”

Cons: “Long days, long hours, not much money, sitting in the same place every day for years.”

Family matters: “My kids are getting an education, so they won’t have to do this job. They can be whatever they want to be. They will be something and have a good life.”

What kind of memories MKES? Our corner store sold the afternoon paper, smokes, and the lollies (candies) I loved as a kid growing up in Sydney. Back then, lots of corner markets in my hometown run by Italian and Greek immigrants.

very cool that you took this idea and ran with it – it’s really interesting to see the variation in best-selling items in each store. There really is something for everyone at a convenience store, I suppose.

I have fond memories of the smattering of small corner stores we had surrounding us growing up on Long Island. Sadly, places like this don’t exist much anymore, much like the demise of the local hardware store. I always loved those, too.

This reminded me of a couple of markets that were close to campus where I went to college in Arizona (Tucson). The Time Market and Market Spot. I know Market Spot no longer exists, and I am not sure about The Time Market but reading this post and seeing the photos made me nostalgic for the feel of community grocers and markets that just kind of fit in the neighborhoods.